5:37pm: ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that the deal contains a little more than $23MM in deferrals, as well as a $23MM signing bonus. Passan adds that there’s an option for a fourth season valued at $15MM.
5:32pm: The Dodgers are re-signing Teoscar Hernández on a three-year deal that guarantees $66MM. Dominican reporter Yancen Pujols first reported that the sides were finalizing a deal at those terms, while Chris Cotillo of MassLive confirmed there was an agreement in place.
Hernández gets the three-year deal that he’d been seeking to return to L.A. The two-time All-Star had called returning to the Dodgers a priority after a huge first season with the team. Hernández slashed .272/.339/.501 with 33 homers across 652 plate appearances this year. He carried that strong production into the postseason, hitting three longballs with a .250/.352/.417 slash over 16 games to help the Dodgers secure their second championship in five years.
This was the ideal outcome for a player on a pillow contract. Hernández had reached free agency last winter on the heels of a middling season in Seattle. He had turned in a pedestrian .258/.305/.435 slash over 678 plate appearances as a Mariner. As a result, Hernández didn’t find the lucrative long-term offer he’d been seeking. While the Red Sox offered him a two-year deal that would’ve come with a $28MM guarantee, he signed for one season with the goal of reestablishing his market value.
More to come.
